Safety guard for hair straightening combs



May 27, 1952 E. WILSON SAFETY GUARD FOR HAIR STRAIGHTENING COMBS 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed Dec. 1, 1949 (71H I lllllllllllllll E E 55 I ll May 27, 1952 E. WILSON SAFETY GUARD FOR HAIR STRAIGHTENING COMBS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Dec. 1, 1949 o NR N I N VEN TOR.

Patented May 27, 1952 SAFETY GUARD FOR HAIR STRAIGHTENING COMBS Ernest Wilson, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application December 1, 1949, Serial No. 130,517 6 Claims. (Cl. 132-44) This invention relates to combs adapted to be used in heated condition to remove unwanted curls and kinks from the hair and the primary object of the invention is to provide such a comb which is equipped with a guard preventing the heated portions of the comb from coming in contact with the scalp but permitting free use of the comb.

Another object of the invention is to provide a comb of the character indicated above, the guard of which is pivotally and removably secured to the comb in such a manner that the uard is disposed laterally of the comb when in working position and is adapted to be pivoted away from the comb into position for removal therefrom.

The invention consists in the details of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts of my improved safety guard for hair straightening combs whereby certain advantages are attained, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order that my invention may be better understood, I will now proceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a comb and guard in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a bottom View in plane of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top view in plan of the comb and guard, the latter being shown as pivoted out of working position;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 7-, with parts in elevation;

Figure 5 is a view in section taken on the line 55 in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a view in section taken on the line 6-6 in Figure 4;

Figure '7 is a view in section taken on the line 11 in Figure 4;

Figure 8 is an end view in elevation of the guard, and

Figure 9 is a partial bottom view in plan of the handles of the guard and of the comb connected into each other.

The comb and guard as embodied herein comprise a metal comb body Ill from which metal comb teeth ll extend in the usual manner. The comb body In and the teeth I l are adapted to be heated in order to facilitate the elimination of unwanted curls and kinks from hair. A stem 12 extends rearwardly from the body ill of the comb and a handle I 3, preferably made from wood and of approximately square cross section, the corners of which may be rounded, is secured in any suitable manner on the stem l2.

A guard body I4 is preferably made from mild sheet metal and has a concavely curved cross section so that it partly surrounds the back of the comb In as shown best in Figure 7. From the edge of the guard body NY a plurality of guard teeth l5 extend so that they lie adjacent to outside edges of comb teeth ll when the guard is arranged in working position. The guard teeth l5 are disposed equi-distantly from each other and the distances between said guard teeth I5 is comparatively wide in relation to the distance between the comb teeth H as best shown in Figure 1.

From the guard body I4 a guard handle bar l6 extends rearwardly and is located along the stem 12 when the guard is arranged in working position on the comb. A guard handle I l is connected with the handle bar [6 by means of an offset l8 extending at an angle between the guard handle I l and the handle bar I6, so that the guard handle I! extends along the back of the comb handle I 3 when the guard is in working po- I sition.

A longitudinal slot [9 is provided in the guard handle I! adjacent to the free end and on the longitudinal center line thereof. A wood screw 2c has a round shank 2| and an elongated head 22 of rectangular cross section. A washer 23 is slid over the wood screw 20 onto the shank 2| and the wood screw is screwed into the back of the handle 13 adjacent to the free end and on the longitudinal center line thereof so that the elongated head 22 extends at right angles to the longitudinal center line of the comb handle 13.

Adjacent to the other end of the comb handle 13 and on the longitudinal center line thereof a hollow 24 is formed which is lined with a concave metal lining forming a socket 25. A hole 26 is provided in the guard handle I! and is located so that it is coaxial with the socket 25 when the guard is in working position. A lock pin 21 is slidably disposed in the hole 26 and on the portion of the pin 21 extending beyond the back of the guard handle I! a stop washer 28 is mounted, for instance by soldering, welding, or the like, and on the end portion of the pin 27 remote from the stop washer 28 a round head 29 is formed fitting into the socket 25.

A spring 30 surrounds the end portion of the pin 21 remote from the head 29 and extends beyond the stop washer 28. One end portion of the spring 30 engages the stop washer 28 and the other end portion is engaged by the end wall of a cap 3| secured to the back of the guard handle l1 coaxially with the hole 26 so that the spring urges the stop washer 28 toward the back of the guard handle. The cap 3! covers also the stop washer 28.

To attach the guard on the comb the elongated screw head 22 is slid through the slot l9 in the guard handle ll. Thereby the guard handle is arranged at right angles to the comb handle l3. The washer 23 on the screw shank 2| spaces the guard handle from the comb handle and then the guard handle H is pivoted about the screw shank 2! until the two handles are arranged nearly parallel to each other and the head 29 abuts the edge of the comb handle IS. A slight pressure against the guard handle ll will cause the head 29 to slide onto the back of the comb handle I3 and will force the spring biased pin 21 to slide further into the cap 3!. When the two handles 13 and I! are alined with each other the head 29 is forced by the spring 38 to enter the socket 25 securing the guard in working position until a lateral pressure against the guard handle ll will pivot theguard into the position shown in Figure 3, whereby the head 29 is released from its engagement with the socket 25.

When the guard isin working position the foremost tooth 32 of the guard extends slightly'beyond the foremost tooth 33 of the comb and a narrow front wall 34 extends across the front end of the back of the guard i6 and tapers upwardly toward the guard tooth 32.

A narrow tapering wall 35 is formed on the guard tooth 55 directly adjacent to the handle bar 16. The tips of the guard teeth l and 32 are equipped with solid balls 35 of the heat treated metal and the length of the guard teeth is such that said'balls 3% are disposed beyond the tips of the comb teeth, so that these latter are prevented from touching" the scalp when the comb is used while the guard is in Working position.

1 claim:

1. A comb of the class described having a back, a plurality of teeth formed on said back and a handle, including aguard to prevent contact of the comb teeth with a body adjacent thereto comprising a body, a plurality of teeth formed on the back and a handle provided with a longitudinal slot located adjacent to the end of the guard handle remote from the guard body, a screw screwed into the back of the comb handle, a cylindrical shank on said screw and an elongated head on the shank, the head being disposed transversely to the comb handle and adapted to slide through the slot in the guard handle when the guard is arranged at right angles to-the comb, the guard being pivotal about said shank relative to the comb, and a washer mounted on the shank and spacing the guard handle from the comb handle.

2. A comb of the class described having a handle, a back and a plurality of teeth formed on said back, including a guard to prevent contact of the comb teeth with a body adjacent thereto comprising a handle, a body and guard teeth, means for pivotally and detachably connecting the guard handle to the comb handle whereby the guard may be pivoted laterally of the comb, and means for preventing accidental pivotal movement of the guard laterally from the comb teeth, the means for preventing accidental lateral pivotal movement of the guard comprising a socket in the comb handle and a spring biased lock pin slidably arranged in the guard handle and adapted to engage the socket.

3. A comb of the class described having a handle. a back and a plurality of teeth formed on said back, including a. guard to prevent contact of the comb teeth with a body adjacent thereto comprising a handle, a body and guard teeth, means for pivotally and detachably connecting the guard handle to the comb handle whereby the guard may be pivoted laterally of the comb, and means for preventing accidental pivotal movement of the guard laterally from the comb teeth, the guard teeth being spaced farther apart than the teeth of the comb and extending beyond the tips of the latter.

4. A comb of the class described having a handle, a back and a plurality of teeth formed on said back, including a guard to prevent contact of the comb teeth with a body adjacent thereto comprising a handle, a body and guard teeth, means for pivotally and detachably connecting the guard handle to the comb handle whereby the guard may be pivoted laterally of the comb, and means for preventing accidental pivotal movement of the guard laterally from the comb teeth, the tips of the guard teeth extending beyond the tips of the comb teeth and including balls securely mounted on the tips of the guard teeth.

5. A comb of the class described having a handle, a back and a plurality of teeth formed on said back, including a guard to prevent contact of the comb teeth with a body adjacent thereto comprising a handle, a body and guard teeth, means for pivotally and detachably connecting the guard handle to the comb handle whereby'the guard may be pivoted laterally of the comb, and means for preventing accidental pivotal movement of the guard laterally from the comb teeth, the foremost guard tooth extending slightly beyond the foremost comb tooth and including an end Wall extending from the front edge of the foremost guard tooth across the guard body and tapering toward the tip of said guard tooth.

6. A comb of the class described having a handle, a back and a plurality of teeth formed on said back, including a guard to prevent contact of the comb teeth with a body adjacent thereto comprising a handle, a body and guard teeth, means for pivotally and detachably connecting the guard handle to the comb handle whereby the guard may be pivoted laterally of the comb, and means for preventing accidental pivotal movement of the guard laterally from the comb teeth, the guard body including a back which is formed concave and the guard teeth extending from one edge of said back, the concave back being adapted to partly surround the comb back when the guard is arranged in working position and the guard teeth being arranged laterally of the comb teeth in that arrangement of the guard.

ERNEST WILSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,574,704 Seabrook, Jr. Feb. 23, 1926 1,607,564 Rabb Nov. 16, 1925 1,708,379 David Apr. 9, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 593 Austria Aug. 1, 1899 

